By Zach Durham
The Beach will have a unique opportunity to hoist a national title on their home court at the NCAA Men’s Volleyball Championship on May 4, 2024.
Head coach Alan Knipe enters season 21 at his alma mater LBSU. The Long Beach State former middle blocker has won back-to-back NCAA Championships in 2018 and 2019 as a head coach.
“We’re a very process-driven team, so we’re going to stay totally immersed in the process of getting to be the best team we’re capable of,” Knipe said. “We feel at the end, the individual and team goals will take care of themselves if we take care of the process.”
The team traveled to Europe during preseason and played against national teams such as Slovenia, Switzerland and Italy, which Knipe said helped him gauge the depth of his squad.
Long Beach State bolsters plenty of experience to make a run as LBSU has nine returning players from last season’s semifinal loss to UCLA in the NCAA Tournament.
Senior libero Mason Briggs, junior outside hitter Sotiris Siapanis and senior middle blocker Simon Torwie were recently named to the Big West all-first team in 2023. Their play could be crucial to the team’s consistency and success.
02/18/2023 - Long Beach, Calif: Long Beach State men's volleyball junior libero Mason Briggs, gives instructions to his teammates during a game against NJIT at the Walter Pyramid. Photo credit: Naoki Gima
“This year, we feel especially the team is really strong,” Briggs said. “The culture and the team is unmatched here, and I’d bring it all back to coach Knipe. That’s where it all stems from.”
Briggs, a finance major from Valencia, started every game for The Beach last season. In four seasons at The Beach, Briggs averaged 2.45 digs per set and his vocal leadership set the standard for a team player.
“I don’t want to hurt my other teammates, but he’s my favorite guy on the court,” Siapanis said about his teammate and friend Briggs. “He’s really competitive and I love that about him, he just refuses to lose.”
The Cyprus-born Siapanis transferred from Ohio State to The Beach in 2023 and during that time, he averaged 3.19 kills and 1.67 digs per set.
Long Beach State finished second in the Big West last season with a record of 9-1. Their only conference loss came on the road against a tough Hawaii team that would finish the season as national runners-up.
This season will be the fourth year it has hosted the NCAA men’s volleyball championship, the previous three being in 2001, 2003 and 2019. Long Beach State won their second consecutive NCAA title in 2019 at The Pyramid.
Four years later, Knipe’s men can return to the apex of collegiate volleyball through home court advantage.
“It’s the best place to play volleyball in America for college volleyball,” Knipe said. “It’s a very unique building, we pack it with a lot of people and have great support from the student section.”
UCLA, Penn State and Hawaii rank in the top four in the NCAA men’s volleyball ranking power index and will be opponents for Long Beach State.
The Beach will play against all three opponents at home this season and they serve as steps along the journey to play at The Pyramid on May 4 for the national title.
Long Beach State begins Big West play on March 8 as it hosts UC Santa Barbara at the Walter Pyramid.
